Of course we have. That’s why today, while many unkind people laugh at the ineptitude of a man called Rikk Wilde who just delivered the most awkward sponsor’s speech in living memory, we refrain from sneering.

A chortle or two perhaps, but trust us, we’re laughing with you Rikk, not at you. Well, mostly with you.

Here’s what this is all about. America just finished its baseball finals yesterday which it rather laughably calls the World Series. (Keen sports aficionados will of course know the theory that the World Series is so named because of an early sponsor, the New York World newspaper.)

Anyway, so Big Chevy Guy takes the stage to do the sponsor thing. His job is to present San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. And to say some stuff about Chevy cars.

Rikk Wilde frantically checks his notes to see if they say “Ford” or Chevy”.Source:news.com.au

Oh by the way, you should know that Madison Bumgarner is known as “MadBum”. Uh-huh.

So Chevy Guy was speaking to a lazy 200 million or so people. The minute he took to the stage, he was breathy and choked up.

“Thanks. Madison, congratulations. Um, as the official sponsor, er, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball, Chevrolet is proud to participate in this, uh, prestigious award,” he stumbled.

Poor old Chevy Guy just wasn’t a natural at this sort of thing. But Madison Bumgarner showed that he’s a top bloke as well as a bloody good pitcher by looking Chevy Guy squarely in the eye to reassure him. The Fox reporter with the microphone also nodded encouragingly. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig fiddled with the trophy and appeared distracted and irritated as Chevy Guy ploughed on.

Got somewhere you’d rather be, Bud? By the way, does anyone else thinks he looks a lot like former Australian Foreign Minister and NSW premier Bob Carr?Source:news.com.au

“Um, along with our dealers we are extremely honoured to give back to this sport, uh, by supporting baseball in cities and towns across this nation. At Chevrolet we have, um, (pause for breath) we have also been proud of the latest and greatest, uh, technology in our truck lineup, which is the all new 2015, uh, Chevy Colorado.”

OK, you’ve mentioned both the sponsor’s name and the main product now. You’re doing OK, Chevy Guy. Sort of. Tell us more about the Colorado.

“Um, it combines class winning and leading um, you know, technology and stuff ...”

“ ... with uh, wi-fi powered by On-Star. It’s sitting there on screen. To recognise your performance in this 2014 World Series, I proudly present to you your very own set of keys to a brand new 2015 Chevy Colorado. Congratulations.”

At this point Madison Bumgarner is anything by bummed. Hey, who wouldn’t want a car with technology and stuff? We know we do. We also know that #technologyandstuff is trending on social media today.

One guy got the car, the other guy got the laughs, so all’s well that ends well. Sorta. Pic: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images/AFPSource:AFP

Anyway, that’s more or less what happened in America yesterday. Could we have done better than Chevy Guy? Probably not.

Was it perhaps, an elaborate publicity stunt for an ailing motor company? That’s far from the wildest conspiracy theory ever, but on balance, it was probably just a nervous sales and marketing guy.

Full marks, though, to Chevy Canada, which is already making mileage out of Chevy Guy’s speech. This could end up being a landmark study in how to harness social media to generate positive publicity from a screw-up.

As a final thought, this writer was once on TV himself, performing more or less as (in)competently as Chevy Guy. My son watched the segment and later asked “Dad, could you see all the people watching you through the camera?”

No, son. No, you couldn’t. But maybe someone should have told that to Chevy Guy.